


Stone Cold Crazy

by moonlight_petal



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bombs, Gen, Jack just can't with the younger generation, Mac and Jack just wanted one day off, Mission Fic, Murdoc being his annoying self, Riddles, Trauma, Travel, just a regular Tuesday at the Phoenix Foundation, mentions of past Phoenix members, mentions of past missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-12 10:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17465681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: Mac and Jack just wanted one day off but evil never sleeps.As three explosions happen, Matty sends her best team to investigate of course.She doesn't realise that someone is playing games with them and their playing field is the whole world.Will Mac, Jack, Riley and Bozer be able to solve this case?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The story I had mentioned in 'Most accidents...' that I was still working on. It wasn't really intended to be chaptered in the first place but somehow it turned out that way.
> 
> The story itself is finished and I'll probably update every Friday night at some point after I edited the new chapter.  
> The title comes from a Queen song by the same name but that's where the similarities end.  
> I put the rating at T to be on the safe side, not sure if it really would have been necessary.
> 
> Other than that, the usual, awkward wording and punctuation mistakes are due to writing in my second language, sorry about that. Oh and in the course of the story songs and musicians will be mentioned and the opinions expressed by the characters in no way shape or form are reflections of the author's opinions.  
> And now, please enjoy!

** 1 **

**A little piece of peace**

**Somewhere outside of Los Angeles**

Mac relaxed back into his deck chair, closing his eyes, face lazily turned up into the afternoon sun. The peace only gently disturbed by the lake water hitting the shore, the wind in the trees around and the enthusiastic whoops of the few other people around when they caught something.

 

The young blond man would be the first to admit that fishing probably wasn't the most obvious of past time choices for him, considering that Mac always was in motion, always playing with something and if his hands weren't occupied, his mind certainly went a mile a minute. And yet. And yet he found he enjoyed it quite a bit once in a while. When he was a boy his grandfather had taken him on fishing trips. Granted, at a young age, he rarely knew how to appreciate the peace and quiet but now, now he knew all too well. With a job as demanding and tiring as theirs, they needed something to balance out that stress.

 

That's how Jack and his monthly fishing trips outside of LA had come into existence. It was like out there, they were different people entirely. Mac, for once relaxed and laid back and Jack, always talking, always joking around, uncharacteristically quiet and calm. Sometimes they talked, discussing the future, wishes and dreams... all the things that they wouldn't dare to even think about outside of their little safe haven. And other times they barely spoke a word at all.

 

That was also the reason why Mac and Jack shared an uneasy look when Mac's phone started ringing softly, ripping through the peaceful atmosphere and pulling them back into the harsh reality of their lives. Something, they knew, none of their team mates would dare to do unless it was really important.

It didn't stop Jack from a snarky greeting, however.

 

"What's the matter Matty, can't go a day without us?"

 

Matty simply ignored the words, adressed them both in a serious and clipped tone.

 

"Mac, Jack, we need you back at HQ asap! We're having a situation!" The Phoenix director didn't even give them a chance for another comment before the call cut off.

 

"Well, I guess that's our cue! Duty calls." Jack sighed, reeling in his fishing line quickly while Mac was already folding up his deck chair and picking up the little odds and ends they always brought with them.

 

**Phoenix Foundation HQ**

**Somewhere in LA**

With some luck and some creative driving choices, courtesy of Jack, the two agents entered the war room only about half an hour after Matty's call.

 

"So, what's the situation, Matty?" Mac asked in lieu of a greeting, going straight for the paper clip bowl on the table as he looked from his boss to the screen wall that was showing a whole lot of chaos and destruction.

 

Jack let go of a whistle under his breath as he observed the screens as well, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

 

"Sorry for ending your fishing retreat early but this is serious guys and right up your alley, Mac." The small woman turned to her younger agent, her face carefully blank but her eyes betrayed a tiny bit of her own unease.

"At 6pm local time, three separate explosions pretty much leveled three different buildings in Greater Washington DC. The Washington authorities are trying to coordinate their relief units to all three sites and investigate the circumstances."

 

"Casualties?" Mac asked, eyes quickly jumping between the various feeds.

"As far as we know so far, none. A few injuries due to coincidental proximity but no confirmed deaths as of yet." Matty said, feeling the relief radiating off the younger man at the news.

 

"So, maximum destruction with minimum casualties..." Mac repeated more to himself than Jack or Matty.

 

"Okay, so... what are we looking at here? What were the targets?" Jack asked, curious now.

 

"That's a good question, Jack. The three sites included an abandoned warehouse, a shop that routinely closes at 5pm and apparently everyone and their mother knows is deserted by 5:30pm at the very latest and lastly, a smaller shed at the train station. Nothing of significant importance and all places known to be empty at the time of explosion. Local authorities are assuming an act of terror but due to the nature of the targets and missing chatter about or acknowledgment by any known terrorist groups, I'm not convinced." Matty continued. "Riley and Bozer are currently down at the analysts' office, helping them out with going through all the videos, digging deeper into all the intel we have from around Washington DC-area developments and monitoring the reports about the explosions."

 

"Do we have information about the cause? I mean, I'm assuming bombs but it could have been any number of things...." Mac wanted to know, idly playing with a cartoon-esque paper clip explosion outline.

 

"According to the bomb squats in DC, there were clear signs of bombs on all three sites, no doubt there. They did mention big differences between the explosives however. That's why I'd like to send you out there, take a look at things, maybe you see something, they don't. You have encountered very different kinds of bombs before after all. Jack, you go with him, keep him safe!" the director said. "Get your go-bags and go to the airstrip, wheels up in 20!"

 

"As if you had to tell me twice, you couldn't have kept me here even if you tried, Matty..." Jack grinned on his way out, aware that Mac already was half-way down the hallway.

 

"I'm very aware of that, Jack. Good thing I have no intention of separating you. Now go!"

 

**Phoenix Jet**

**On-route to Washington DC**

"What are you thinking about, Mac?" Jack asked conversationally after watching his partner for some time. The kid looked completely lost in thought as if his mind was somewhere very far away. In Jack's experience that never was a good place to be for Mac hence his question. He successfully startled Mac back to reality that way.

 

"Don't know... it's just... this bombing... from the little information we have it doesn't really make sense, does it? I mean who goes to all the trouble of planting three bombs at very different places, where they know nobody will be and then detonate them perfectly timed? I get the maximum destruction bit but the no casualties part confuses me... don't get me wrong here, I'm glad nobody got seriously hurt..." Mac replied, thoughtfully.

 

"Of course you are, kid. I know you, remember? No casualties definitely is a good thing but I can see where you are going with this. It certainly doesn't fit any kind of terrorist MO I ever came across before. Unless it's something new entirely and they did it just to show they can..." Jack nodded. He would be lying if he said that this option didn't set of all kinds of alarm bells in his head.

 

"Some kind of warning, you mean? But wouldn't they make sure to send out a message *with* the bombs? I mean if they want to show 'they can', shouldn't we know who 'they' are?" Mac slightly bit his lip. "Plus, if it's some new group or an individual, wouldn't they try to make a 'trademark' or something for themselves? Something to tie their bombings back to? They won't do that if they use different kinds of bombs, assuming the bomb squats on site are right."

 

"True. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe they are waiting for the chaos to settle down a little, make sure that they still have everyone's full attention but won't get lost in the aftermath of something like this. I hate to say it but even the terrorists are becoming smarter. Which is why I count my lucky stars that you decided to join the good guys, to be honest!" Jack grinned to lighten the mood a little.

 

Mac chuckled.

"Could you imagine? I think I'd be the worst bad guy ever..." he sighed, face turning serious again. "Joking aside, you could be right, I guess the next few hours will show what we're dealing with here. If Riley and the others don't find out before that already. Let's just hope that'll happen before there are any more explosions..."

 

As if she had heard them, the Phoenix issued laptop on board alerted them to an incoming video call by their hacker friend.

 

"Hey Riley, how's it going?" Mac greeted the woman, Jack waving at her from behind him, quickly changing his position to be able to see better.

 

"Hey you two, sorry we weren't able to at least say bye before you left..." the woman smiled thinly betraying her own tension and frustration on the matter. "It's going rather slowly but I just got in touch with Charlie, Mac. He apparently was in DC for some conference when the bombings happened. He joined the local forces and has already examined two of the three sites. *And* he took pictures for you. I send them over in a minute, as soon as the download is finished. He'll meet up with you, as soon as you arrive." she informed them.

 

Mac smiled at that. It'd been a while since he saw Charlie. Granted he would have liked a less catastrophic meeting but well...

"Thanks Riles, anything in particular he mentioned about the bombs?" Charlie was one of the best himself after all, if they had him in DC, they didn't really need Mac anymore if you asked the blond agent.

 

"Not really, bro. He was in a bit of a rush when he called, on-route to the last bomb site and he didn't mention any specifics. I do have a feeling that he was a bit ruffled however." came Bozer's voice from the background before the face of their friend appeared.

 

"Ruffled *how*, Boze?" Jack asked, quirking a curious eyebrow. He knew Charlie, there were only a few things that could ruffle the EOD specialist.

 

"I don't know, man? It seemed to me that -although he said that the bombs were rather simple in built- there was something about them that didn't sit right with him or something. I guess that's why he took all these pictures for you to have an early look at. Maybe you discover what he saw..." Bozer explained, face thoughtful. Mac's best friend since childhood had an uncanny ability to read situations, atmospheres and moods, picking up on the smallest hints of something unusual. That certainly was one of the reasons he had wanted to go into the movie business in the first place and the blond agent quickly had learned to trust Bozer's feelings.

 

"Well it could just be the situation, getting thrown into three bomb site investigations at once... Charlie's growing older too..." Jack said, not quite seriously though. Charlie Robinson might not live the high pressure and danger life they did, but after what he had seen, experienced and learned in his time overseas, there was no way something like that would throw him off that badly without a good reason.

 

"The pictures are out, you should have them in a moment." Riley interrupted that little conversation, easily changing the subject again.

 

"Thank you, Riley. I'll go over them and call back after, I guess... talk to you soon." Mac said, already opening the mail in the background.

 

When the call cut off, he pulled them on screen, growing more tense by the minute, thoroughly unsettling Jack by his side.

 

Picture after picture slid over the screen. Sometimes Mac went back to a previous one but his face grew grimmer more and more.

 

After about 15 minutes of silence, Jack had enough.

"What is it, Mac?" he asked, quietly, seriously. No hint of joking in his voice because he instinctively knew, whatever his partner saw, it was bad news.

 

"I can't be sure of course. There are a hell of a lot of papers and stuff written about his work, detailing his techniques and everything, it could be a copy cat but... these look like the remaining bits of early Ghost-designs, Jack..." Mac looked up from the screen at his friend, face grim and serious but with a haunted expression in his eyes that spoke of the trauma this guy had put Mac through already and apparently continued to do.

 

"But wasn't 'two bombs' kind of his key attribute?" Jack asked, more to keep Mac talking instead of letting him stay in his head to replay one specific day. "Not to mention his penchant for maximum casualties rather than maximum destruction..."

 

"Not necessarily, the thing with the two bombs came later, when he got better, his designs more extravagant... but we have information *now* that enabled us to tie a lot of earlier bombings back to him as well and those designs... well, they might have been not as refined but effective nonetheless. In this case it's also the choice of materials that is a clear hint in his direction. I do agree with you, though. The 'no casualties' part certainly isn't pointing at him. Unless..." Mac said, looking back at the last picture. "Unless this was a distraction..." he muttered thoughtfully, quickly starting up a connection with Matty.

 

"Matty, are there any news of other incidents around the US? Or even globally? Anything important we should know about?" he asked, catching the woman a bit by surprise.

 

The director didn't have enough time to answer however when Mac saw Riley storming into the war room with Bozer hot on her heels.

"You have to see this, it just got on our radar!" she said, sending pictures to their big screen and giving Mac access to them as well.

 

"Holy moly... someone made a mess..." Jack whistled under his breath, studying the picture more closely. "Is that the head of the British MOD?"

 

"Rather was... what's left of him..." Riley added in a tense tone.

 

"When did that happen, Riley?" Matty asked, matter-of-factly as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened.

 

"Pictures were just sent to various agencies around the word. We weren't directly on their mail listing but it popped up in our research. Apparently these were just taken on location, they found him not twenty minutes ago." Riley explained.

 

"There you have your answer, Mac. That should do it..." their boss said, looking at the blond agent who had yet to say something on the matter.

 

Mac however wasn't really looking at the rather gruesome looking body of the British politician and more to the background.

 

"Mac... breathe, buddy..." Jack startled the younger one out of his silence, hadn't even realised that he had held his breath.

 

"Riley, is that the only picture they sent?" he wanted to know.

 

"As of the moment I ran here, yeah... give me a second... crap..." the young woman cursed colourfully and Mac closed his eyes.

 

"There was a message on the wall, am I right?" he said and it was more of a statement than a question really. Jack looked more closely at the background of the picture, trying to see what his partner had seen, when Riley sent them the new picture. They all heard the quick intake of breath of their boss. Right there, in the mess of blood and other splattered substances Jack didn't want to think to deeply about, words were scrawled on the wall.

 

**_Got your attention now, eh?_ **

 

Of course the British government and agencies wondered about the meaning of the words. As would every other agency around the globe who got involved in this but only one immediately knew what they meant.

 

_Murdoc._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After three bombs and one assassination our Phoenix Team is reasonably sure to know who is behind all this:   
> Murdoc!  
> But what exactly is he after this time?   
> Well, that's what they're trying to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first? I suck at summaries apparently but well, reading the chapter directly is better anyway, right? Right!  
> Once more, opinions expressed by the characters, don't necessarily reflect my own, so please if you disagree with them, it's their fault not mine (they made me do it^^).   
> Moving on, please enjoy the new chapter. I hope you'll like it!

** 2 **

**Third Bomb Site**

**Washington DC**

As soon as Mac and Jack landed in DC they made their way to the third bomb site where Charlie was waiting for them. What they found there, unfortunately, only confirmed their suspicions even more.

 

"What do you think, Mac? Is it him? Or is it someone using his designs?" Charlie wondered, eyes on the few remnants of the original bomb.

 

"I don't know, Charlie. It could very well be him, on our way here however we got news of an assassination in London that has all the hallmarks of Murdoc, complete with a message to us...." he sighed, looking up at Jack who had put a reassuring hand on Mac's shoulder. "The thing is, Murdoc appears to know close to everything about me, it would make sense for him to use the Ghosts's designs to unsettle me further. The question is why? Why now? And why here?"

 

"All very good questions, bud. But sadly none we can answer right now. We don't even know if these two incidents are really connected. It could just be a freak coincidence that Murdoc came out of the dark hole he had hidden himself in now." Jack said, squeezing the shoulder gently and then getting his phone out. "Is there anything more we can do here? If not, I'd check in with Matty now, see what the next plan is."

 

Mac didn't believe for one second that any of this could be a coincidence. It was Murdoc they were talking about. The man made it his mission to get into Mac's head and play with him like a sick, sadistic cat would with a mouse. It didn't make sense, though. Before, the man had targeted Mac directly or he'd gone for his family. Why this? This was new. Mac didn't understand it. And *that* scared him.

 

The blond man seemed so lost in thought, that Charlie answered Jack's question for him.

"As much as I wish it was different, we can't really do anything else here. I went over all the sites very carefully, checked out the surrounding areas as well, there was not even the smallest hint that would help us determine why here or lead us back to who it was. It's really like, whoever it was, they levelled these buildings just for the heck of it. So unless there had been new developments on your side, we are pretty much stumped on this end."

 

Jack's thumb was just about to hit the call button when his phone went off in his hand.

"This is the second time today, it's getting kind of creepy..."

 

"Shut it, Dalton, there is no time for joking. I need you to get back on the plane asap. Riley found new intel that suggests that whatever this is, will go down in London as well and we're running on a very tight schedule here. So go! *Now*! I'll brief you on the details as soon as you are in the air!" Matty informed them very shortly before hanging up again.

 

Jack had started his way back to the car, as soon as he heard the word 'asap', pulling Mac with him and Charlie right behind them. It didn't surprise Jack in the least. If there were bombs involved, especially these kinds of bombs, be it the Ghost himself or a copy cat, Charlie had a big interest in getting the perpetrator.

 

"What's up, Jack?" Mac asked as he got in the car.

"New developments, we're needed in London. Matty will tell us more when we are on our way." was the quick and concise answer as Jack pulled into traffic, driving as carefully as he dared but still broke several traffic laws on the way to their jet.

 

**Phoenix Jet**

**On-route to London**

"While you went to inspect the bomb sites, Riley's search parameters over the social media network had a couple of hits... small messages that wouldn't mean anything to anyone but us. An anonymous post on a travel website, another anonymous message sent to a radio station to be read out with a song request and a curiously viral Instagram picture of the London skyline with an overlay of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and the caption 'I'm going to be late'." Matty counted off examples. "They all lead us to the assumption that whatever it is, it will take place in London as well. The assassination of the head of MOD apparently wasn't the only objective there."

 

"Makes sense, doesn't give us a whole lot to go on though. We can't really randomly look for explosives or other potentially dangerous stuff." Jack said thoughtfully.

 

"Jack's right, we need more info, Matty. What exactly were the other messages, maybe there's a clue there. If this is Murdoc, it's going to be personal, one way or the other..." Mac agreed, looking at their boss.

 

"Well, the post on the travel website was probably the most obvious as to what we'll be dealing with. It read 'London's such a brilliant and fun city. We're going to have a *blast* there!' I understand this could be completely unconnected but with what happened in DC..." Matty trailed off, caught herself quickly again and continued on. "The radio message was 'Looking forward to seeing you in London. Better hurry! Tik-tok.'"

 

"Dare I ask? The song request?" Jack asked, frowning already.

"Bastille's 'Pompeii'!" was Matty's only answer.

 

"Good even his taste in music is kind of atrocious..." Jack grumbled and despite the situation, Mac and Charlie chuckled softly.

 

"I don't know about that, Jack... I don't think it's all that bad..." Mac said, already looking up the song.

 

"Oh please, someone save me from this generation and their non-existant ability to distinguish between musical art and well... whatever it is you call music nowadays..." the older agent groaned under his breath, getting a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Charlie for it.

 

"Anyway, that's what we have for now. Riley and Bozer are on their way as well and will rendevouz with you in London. Jill took over Riley's post here and the two of them will stay in contact to make the information exchange easier and more time effective." Matty said. "I know your head is buzzing with the information now, blondie, but it's a long flight. Try to get some rest, I have a feeling you'll need it! Same goes for you two!" she added. "I call again if something urgent comes up. If not, get settled at the safe house and wait for Riley and Bozer. Have a good flight!" she signed off and silence settled over them for a while.

 

**British Intelligence Service's Safe House**

**London, UK**

Since Riley and Bozer had already been in the air when Mac, Jack and Charlie took off, the team didn't have to wait too long to meet up at the London safe house.

 

About an hour after Riley had arrived, she had her mobile data center up and running and remotely connected to the Phoenix base. With a minor timing delay they should get everything they found on Riley's screens as well. She had made hard copies of the song lyrics, the messages and the pictures.

 

"This is a serious problem, with all the hints about the time running out, there could be a bomb or several go off at any given moment and we have no idea where to look for them." Charlie mused, staring at the picture of the white rabbit.

 

"I agree, personally I think it's even more frustrating to be *in* the city that's probably targeted, not knowing where to look. People are going about their business like usual and we can't warn them..." Bozer sighed.

 

"I wish I could tell you more but that's apparently all the game hints this psycho is giving us now..." Riley said from her station. She had been trying -once more- to re-trace the messages but came up empty yet again.

 

"There must be something we're missing here, something we haven't found yet maybe. Murdoc might be crazy but he likes to play on a somewhat even playing field. Sure he has the upper hand because he knows all the variables but somehow he must have given us all the information we need." Mac mused, just as frustrated as his friends.

 

"Yeah but if it's in here somewhere, I don't see it. I don't speak 'crazy killer', sorry. I've never even been to London before..." Jack grumbled, pushing the lyric sheet away.

 

Mac looked up suddenly, a look of realisation on his face.

"I have! Give me that, Jack!" the blond took a step closer to his friend, looking at the paper over Jack's shoulder.

 

"You have?" Bozer and Jack both asked in unison, sharing a quick grin at that.

 

"Yeah, a while back... Nikki and I... err... remember that mission we had in Ireland, that surveillance thing..." Mac softly asked his partner.

 

Understanding dawned on Jack's face.

"The one I didn't go along with because I sprained my wrist in the Op before and Patty said you two could handle it alone?"

 

"Yeah that one... we finished the job early and Nikki kind of talked Thornton into giving us two additional days because we've been on back to back missions for a while then. I suppose that was the only reason Thornton agreed to that. Anyway, Nikki wanted to visit London so we came here. We didn't see all that much however because something urgent came up and Thornton called us back immediately."

 

"Ha, that explains a lot actually. I never asked but I always wondered why Nikki had been so pissed with Patty back then and even more why Patty had been so apologetic in her own hardass, emotionless way..." Jack grinned slightly. Not only about the fact that he finally found out what had actually happened back then but also the fact that Mac was finally able to talk about Nikki and Thornton without a look of utter regret and hurt in his eyes. Sure, he still got a little pensive when talking about Nikki but not as much as he had before. Small victories.

 

"So how exactly does that help us with the locations of the potential bombs?" Charlie wanted to know, already unfolding a big city map of London. "And the real question probably should be, is this going to go down like Washington as well? Maximum impact, minimum victims?"

 

"As much as I'd prefer that, because taking care of a lot of rubble and debris would be a hell of a lot better than dealing with a lot of casualties,  I fear that's not how Murdoc rolls..." Bozer shook his head.

 

"Yeah unfortunately Bozer's right. Washington just was a warning or an 'Intro' to what is yet to come. Assuming Murdoc is playing his usual games, that would make sense. Letting us know what we are dealing with, bombs that have a high capability of destruction and then the assassination here in London which might just have been his way to introduce our opponent." Mac added to Bozer's assessment. "Let's see... as much as I always hated interpretation of stuff at school, if I'm not completely off, then Murdoc somehow found out about my short visit to London. That would cover the part about 'feeling like I've been here before'. 'Does it feel like nothing changed', well obviously not because the circumstances are very different and Nikki isn't around. The city itself? I hardly think much has changed."

 

"Well, where did you go back then? I suppose those will be the prime targets if we're going this route." Jack asked, marker already in hand.

 

"Well Big Ben obviously, which incidentally might just be the only thing that *did* change after all since the bell is silent due to restoration work." Mac started. "Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, King's Cross, because you can't deny the Harry Potter nerd, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge... that's about the extent of what we managed to at least look at in the short time we actually were in London before we had to leave again. Not counting the many Underground stations... I do have a good memory but I can't remember them all anymore." he counted off on his hands, trying to retrace his steps back then in his head.

 

"You really didn't go and look at Buckingham Palace when you were here?" Riley asked, somewhat incredulous.

 

"No, we didn't... strange isn't it..." the blond said.

 

"Okay those were a few more than I had expected or hoped for really... so what do you think might be 'priority' targets? And here's hoping, he didn't plant bombs to all of them anyway." Charlie asked after helping Jack to locate all the places on the map. He might have an idea if they were talking about a 'regular' terrorists or something but this Murdoc seemed to be a type of his own.

 

"Well considering that Big Ben actually did change, I would disregard that. A place to definitely maximise the body count would be King's Cross, it would also fit with the train station he used in DC." Mac looked at the map thoughtfully. "Piccadilly Circus would definitely have a huge impact but I think it would be difficult to place something unseen there. The Abbey would make sense if he wanted to destroy one of London's monuments, the Tower could be a target just on principle. Same with the bridge. It's a key landmark for tourists, always buzzing with people. It's difficult to decide..."

 

Jack sensed Mac's frustration even if his partner hid it almost perfectly behind his poker face.

"Don't worry about a final decision for now... let's think about *when*? You have any idea about that? Does this damn song tell you anything about that as well?"

 

"Not really, nothing to be very sure about anyway. Just this 'bringing darkness from above', well it's just in a different context here but, since I'm still very sure that Murdoc doesn't know how to manipulate the weather, I'd connect that to nightfall. When's that, Riley?"

 

"Give me a second... okay official start of sunset on September 18th, 2018 in London would be 7.07pm... it's not completely dark by then of course but it certainly is the time that starts 'bringing darkness from above' right?" she looked from one to the other.

 

"Makes sense, so we're assuming the bombs are rigged to detonate at 7.07pm local time..." Charlie said, looking back at the map. "That gives us roughly 60 minutes to decide the locations, find the devices and disarm them. Mac, I hate to say this but the odds are really *not* in our favour here."

 

The blond grew tense when it became clear how little time they actually had. Murdoc really planned this thing in a way they couldn't really win from the start.

 

Pulling himself together, Mac took a deep breath. "Okay, panicking won't help us now... Riley, Bozer contact Matty and give her the details of what we found out now. See if she can get us help from the local bomb squats..." Mac knew that it probably would be too late by the time their boss managed to get through to the proper channels, convince them of the danger and get the squats out in time but they had to at least try. "As for locations... well King's Cross is a certain one, so I would go there first and disarm that one." Mac said trying to stay calm and look at this logically. What would Murdoc go for?

 

He felt all eyes on him, expectantly. He took a deep breath.

"Okay let's go with the Abbey and the Tower, they seem like plausible targets for Murdoc but inform them about the other potential targets as well, Riley. If we get local back up in time we better keep an eye out there."

 

Jack gave Mac a concerned look before he checked his gun and nodded determinedly.

"Okay, let's do this then!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team race against time to disarm all the bombs Murdoc left for them.  
> Will they be in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick one today (and earlier than usual), in this chapter I'm taking some fictional liberties when it comes to travelling through London traffic by car. I'm reasonably sure that in reality that wouldn't work, so please excuse that one.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, please enjoy and if there is time, let me know what you think so far.

** 3 **

**London**

**45 minutes until detonation**

Navigating through London traffic wasn't easy even if you have Jack Dalton on the wheel. Driving on the left side already was a challenge in itself but if you're on a tight schedule deciding over life and death of many innocent people? That's really hard.

 

They had decided to go seperate ways, Mac and Jack would take care of King's Cross while Charlie went to the Abbey. Jack hadn't been happy about that, sending Charlie on his own without someone watching his back when they were dealing with Murdoc was all kinds of dangerous but he wouldn't let Mac go on his own either. And neither Bozer nor Riley had the training or the mindset for that job. The two of them stayed at the safe house, coordinating.

 

"Holy shit... that's a lot of people..." Jack whistled impressed when they finally made it into the hall of King's Cross.

 

"A lot of people we should try to get out of here as quickly as possible, just in case. Plus finding the device would be a lot easier then as well.

 

"Well I could shoot up in the air, that should send them running..." Jack said, only half-serious.

 

"Yeah it would send them running in complete panic, the risk that there will be other casualties is too high. Not to mention that we would probably be arrested before we can do much good and that's certainly an outcome I don't even want to think about. No, I think I'll go with the fire alarm, hopefully they will leave the building in a more orderly fashion then." Mac said when his eyes fell on a red box, labelled 'In case of an emergency'.

 

**30 minutes until detonation**

 

The firealarm plan didn't go quite as planned, much to Mac's disappointment but they had no time to be upset about that. Mac tried to find the most logical place to plant the device.

 

"Higher up to maximise the blast radius, hidden well enough not to be found by accident and presumably in a place he could plant it without raising suspicion..." Mac murmured, voicing his thoughts out loud helped him think and kept Jack in the loop as well.

 

"It's just a thought but we're in a train station, wouldn't it be the easiest way to achieve all three requirements to plant the bomb in a suitcase somewhere?"

Mac looked at his partner with a grin.

"That's a really good thought, it would make sense! Let's go!" he dashed away toward the presumably best location for a bomb, carefully navigating between the many people who were still around, completely ignoring the alarm.

 

"How's it going on Charlie's end, Riley?" he asked into his comm set, hoping that his friend had a bit more luck with the Abbey.

 

"He got there alright, getting in was a little more tricky but with the news of the assassination leaked already the curator helped him inside when Charlie admitted why he was there. Last I heard, he was looking for the device. How is it going at the station?" the hacker asked back, probably out of curiosity and to keep Matty in the loop.

 

"People are quite unreasonable around here, ignoring the fire alarm and all. We're working on a hunch now, looking for a suitcase..." Jack informed her while Mac looked around, running off at a dead sprint again, when his eyes fell on a specific suitcase. It was a carry-on size suitcase, somewhat hidden behind a column with a large US flag on the front and a white rabbit sticker under it.

 

Carefully he pulled it out and snapped open the latches, grateful that he didn't have to pick the locks first. He took a sharp breath when he saw the bomb. It was yet another Ghost design, a more complicated one at that.

 

One look over Mac's shoulder told Jack everything he needed to know. He turned around, gun drawn but still carefully hidden to not draw too much attention to themselves.

"How far is Matty with back up?"

 

"Still working on it. I think I heard our boss lady curse more times in the past 30 minutes than in all the time I knew her before now." Bozer answered. "But it seems she finally got through to someone, not sure how much help that will be to you though."

 

"Charlie disarmed his bomb. Westminster Abbey is safe! You got that, Mac?" Riley interrupted them, when Charlie sent her the all clear.

 

"That's good, Riles. He should go to the Tower next, it'll be close but maybe we get lucky... tell him to be careful!" Jack responded for his partner. He was pretty sure that Mac had heard the good news on some level but was too focused on the mechanism in front to answer.

 

**17 minutes until detonation**

"Got it!" Mac finally sighed, pulling out his Swiss Army knife and cutting the wire he had determined as the right one.

 

As was his habit, Jack closed his eyes in that moment and sent off a quick prayer. He trusted Mac with his whole being but with things like that a little faith never hurt.

 

As soon as the bomb was disarmed, Mac closed the suitcase and pushed it back in its' previous hiding spot.

"Boze, can you contact station security and tell them that there is a small suitcase with an American flag design upstairs with a disarmed bomb inside. They need to pick it up and keep safe until bomb disposal arrives." Mac advised while running outside and to the car.

 

"Bud, you know that we probably won't arrive in time, right?" Jack asked cautiously when he pulled into traffic again.

 

"Yeah I know, but we have to at least try, Jack. Let's hope the few extra minutes have helped and Charlie arrives in time at least. He's our last chance if the local bomb disposal team won't help." Mac said in a tense voice and Jack risked a quick glance to the side to look at his partner.

 

"Mac? Promise me something, yeah? Whatever happens, remember that this isn't *your* fault. There simply was no way we could have gotten them all. As it is we're lucky Charlie came with us or this would have looked even worse. It's not your fault, understood buddy?"

 

The blond made a soft sound, it was consent given to a promise the both of them knew Mac would have a hard time keeping.

 

**5 minutes until detonation**

"Charlie finally arrived at the Tower, he's searching the bomb now." Riley informed them. "And Matty says good job at the station and the Abbey, a lot of lives have been saved there."

 

"Yeah not enough if we can't find the last one in time..." Mac replied, looking ahead on the street but in his head he was counting down the time they still had. At this point he had to put his whole trust in Charlie.

 

Nobody dared to even utter the possibility that they were looking in the wrong place altogether, although the chances for that were quite high.

 

Mac and Jack arrived in front of the Tower of London with about 30 seconds to spare and just when Charlie came running outside, a defeated look on his face and shaking his head.

 

"I'm so sorry but I couldn't find it. The security helped me sweep the building as best as we could in such a short time, I looked at all the significant locations but there was nothing there, Mac..." he told them tensely.

Before either Mac or Jack could utter a single word about that a deafening explosion shook the area. A hot pressure wave made them stumble and dust, debris and shards flew around them.

 

As if in slow motion, all three of them turned towards the Tower Bridge or rather what was left of it. Screams, chaos and panic erupted in the blink of an eye.

 

"No, no no no!" Mac whispered or at least he thought he whispered because the explosion still rang in his ears.

 

Jack acted quickly, gripping Mac by the shoulders to ground him and pull him back to reality and out of the rabbit hole his mind certainly went down the moment he realised they had been at the wrong place after all.

"Mac! Remember what I told you in the car! Come on, look at me! This is not your fault, there was literally *nothing* you could have done to stop this!"

 

Mac swallowed.

"How? How is that not my fault, Jack? If it wasn't for Murdoc's stupid obsession with me, this never would have happened. He wants to get to me!"

 

"Exactly, he wants to get to you and he knows how to push your buttons. But his obsession, the lengths he's going to, those are not your fault either. Think about it, Mac! Somewhere in this big brain you *know* this!" Jack said, his hands now lying on either side of Mac's face. Even without being in the direct blast radius they already were dirty and probably scratched up from the things flying around. Jack hoped he would get through to the kid because right now he needed his partner to keep his calm because this certainly wasn't over yet.

 

"Uh guys..." Charlie's voice sounded soft and uncharacteristically scared.

 

"Wha- oh shit!" Jack cursed a blue streak when he looked away from Mac at the other man, who stood rooted to the spot, his gaze directed to his chest where a small but unmistakable red dot had appeared.

 

Immediately Jack pulled his own gun, looking around, trying to find where Murdoc, no doubt, had hidden himself.

 

A moment later Mac's phone went off through all the chaos. An unknown number calling.

"Riley, tap into Mac's phone, will you. I'm sure that's our favourite lunatic." Jack whispered into his comms when Mac accepted the call on speaker.

 

"MacGyver!" Murdoc sing-songed. "Did you like my little riddle?"

 

"Can't say I did, Murdoc. What do you want?" Mac snapped back.

 

"Oh what I always want. You! After a proper challenge of course. But really, I hate it when you change the rules. I'm disappointed MacGyver. I built this game for you and you go and bring along someone else. Isn't four against one enough already? I would think so and we wouldn't want dear Mrs Robinson to become a widow, do we? I give you a choice here, MacGyver, either you take him out of the game or I will."

 

Mac's eyes went to Charlie's.

"Mac no... if this goes on like this, you can't do this alone!" Charlie whispered.

 

But the blond shook his head.

"I *have* to do this alone, Charlie. Getting you into this was careless in the first place and if you hadn't been in Washington all this wouldn't have happened. Fly home, Charlie! I appreciate you helping me here, I do but you have to go home now!"

 

"Mac..." Charlie started but sighed then. "Alright..."

 

"Good decision, Mr Robinson! Just..."

 

A shot rang through the chaos and Charlie flew to the side, shouting in pain.

"Murdoc! You bastard! He already agreed to go!" Jack snapped, immediately crouching by Charlie's side.

 

"Oh Jack, Jack, Jack... you forget, I know you... I needed to make sure you keep your promise and to give Mr Robinson a reminder not to cross me. Well now... that wasn't as much fun as I had hoped, MacGyver... let's see about round two..."

 

With that the call ended and Mac turned to his friend.

"It's just a scratch really... don't worry, Mac!" the older tried to calm his younger friend. "A bit of cleaning and a bandage and I'll be as good as new. Get this asshole, Mac!" Charlie grumbled, holding his arm gingerly.

 

"We will, Charlie, we will! This time I'll make sure that this bastard gets thrown into a dark hole and the key gets not only thrown away but melted  or something..." Jack growled.

 

Mac's phone rang yet again and Matty was on the line.

With a tense voice he informed her about everything that happened and got news about what would happen in London now. Apparently, now that it was quite obvious that she had been right all along, the British autorities wanted to make up for their slow response before. Now however, as far as they knew, London wouldn't be in the focus of Murdoc anymore. Matty agreed to help if they needed it with the aftermath but other than that, they should be able to handle it on their own. Matty and her team now needed to find out what the next step would be.

 

The Phoenix director also promised first class travel back home for Charlie on Foundation expenses. Riley was supposed to take care of that.

 

"So? What's the plan now?" Jack asked. While Mac had been talking to Matty, he had gone and picked up the first aid kit from the car and had taken care of Charlie's wound. The emergency services and hospitals in London had more pressing things to do. Charlie knew that well enough. Jack's somewhat better field dressing skills would hold well enough until he was back home. He would go see a doctor then as soon as he had his wife back in his arms.

 

"Well the plan is now to regroup with Riley and Bozer, try to see if we can find out what Murdoc has planned for 'round two' as he called it. Hopefully we are able to see through his plan sooner this time to buy us a bit more time. But first..." Mac looked at Jack with emotionally exhausted eyes. And Jack knew that look, knew it intimately well and had come to hate it in the usually so full of life eyes of his best friend. It was pain, guilt, regret and helplessness all rolled in one.

 

"First you want to go to the bomb site." he finished the younger's sentence.

 

Mac nodded.

"I need to, Jack. You say it's not my fault and rationally I know it's not. It's Murdoc's! But at the same time a lot of people died today because of his personal vendetta against me and the least I can do is to pay my respects and see if there is anything I can do to help."

 

"Alright, buddy! Let's do this then!" Jack said, a small, sad smile on his lips.

 

Together they walked along the road, the short path that was between them and what was left of the bridge.

 

Mac looked over the rubble, the pieces of the age old structure, now irretrievably destroyed, lying in the Thames. Bodies still floating in the water, those on land mostly covered up with sheets by the emergency personnel already on location. People crying, children screaming in pain and anguish.

 

Silently Jack grabbed one of Mac's shoulders in support, knowing all too well that this would haunt the younger one in his dreams for a long time to come.

 

"This is the last time! He won't get away with this again!" he growled, hands in tight fists and tears in his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After not being able to find and disarm all the bombs in time, Mac and the team are now back at the beginning of their search for Murdoc.   
> Where will their journey lead them now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, quick note: thanks to everyone who read the story and leaves kudos or even comments, I really appreciate that.   
> Here's the new chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it. Also once again, opinions stated in the chapter don't necessarily mirror my own XD (although they really do, to be quite honest.) Murdoc really isn't as easy to write as I expected... who would have thought... oh and in case anyone is wondering, the destination choices are made purely based on my own experience, I've been to London several times already and know the city and the one mentioned in this chapter, I've been visiting last year, so the memory still is rather fresh.   
> Already, enough of me, hope you enjoy!

** 4 **

**London**

**Safe House**

Some time later, Mac, Jack and Charlie had tried to help with the situation as best as they could, the three of them returned to the safe house feeling defeated, tired and even more dirty than before.

 

Mac was quiet, eerily so, and his friends sent very concerned looks in his direction. After a thorough shower and some comfort food (Bozer had been glad to be at least of some help in this situation, if only by providing sustenance to his team mates) Riley had informed the three that she had tried to track back all the security camera feeds she had gotten her hands on to see when Murdoc had entered the country, when he had planted the bombs and where he had been hiding during his short phone call with Mac. That one actually had been the only thing she had been able to pinpoint and not because she had found Murdoc on the feeds but because she had traced the call and had triangulated the position in combination with the line of sight he must have been using to be able to hit Charlie like he did.

 

"It's like this crazy asshole can beam himself from on place to another, there's literally no evidence he's been in the UK at all. For all we know he already left again and I can't find him." Riley groused, frustrated to no end that despite all the computer magic she was able to do, she couldn't pin Murdoc down.

 

"That's pretty likely actually. That he left the country already, not the beaming bit. Whatever he planned, I highly doubt he'll be giving us all that much time to figure it out. He's good, we knew that already." Mac finally broke his silence. "Don't beat yourself up over this, Riles. You do what you can, nobody expects more of you."

 

"Yeah well, right back at you, bro!" Bozer said, a pointed look at Mac. They all knew how he tried to reassure them but expected the impossible of himself.

 

"Alright..." Charlie said after a moment of tense silence because Mac refused to acknowledge Bozer's comment and got to his feet. "I'm sure you will figure it out whatever it is that's coming at you. I've never met a team that had such a high rate of getting out of impossible situation than yours. I, however, should get going if I want to make my flight back home. Riley, Bozer, it's been a pleasure to see you again!" he met the two with short friendly hugs.

 

"Jack!" he smiled, getting pulled into a big bear hug curtesy of Jack. "Take care of this bunch, yeah? Especially Mac, you need to get him out of his head and soon or this will haunt him forever." he whispered in his friend's ear.

 

"You know it. We'll try our best and I won't stop until I have this bastard under lock and key, I promise!" Jack whispered back, looking at Mac over Charlie's shoulder.

 

"I'll walk you out..." Mac said softly, getting to his feet.

 

They couldn't hear what Charlie told Mac at the door but when the blond returned to the room he looked thoughtful but not as hopeless as before. At this point they counted that as a win.

 

"Guys! A quick heads up, you'll be getting company soon." Matty's voice suddenly came from Riley's computer.

 

"Company, Matty? What kind of company?" Jack asked, his hand already on his holster.

 

"Oh don't be all jumpy, Dalton. The British bomb disposal team have dismantled the two disarmed bombs from the train station and the Abbey. They found brown envelopes underneath them both, adressed to MacGyver. One very apologetic employee of the British Intelligence will deliver these envelopes to you shortly. He should arrive in about 15 minutes. They did a check on them, they are safe to be opened. Hopefully what is inside will bring us a step closer to catching Murdoc."

 

"Thanks for the warning, Matty. We'll see what it is and call back again." Mac said, shoulders already tensing up again.

 

"I'll go make same coffee, I have a feeling we'll need it..." Bozer said after the call ended.

 

"Bring the chocolate from the fridge as well..." Riley called after him.

 

Twenty minutes later, all four of them stood around the table, staring at the photos that had been in the envelopes the British agent delivered. The man couldn't wait to get away again, probably -after having encountered Matty before- scared that they were pissed enough to punch him after his agency and the authorities had failed to help in time.

 

"Okay... what are we looking at?" Bozer asked because he had no idea at all. Riley didn't look like she got what she saw either and Jack actually seemed to have an idea what it was. Mac on the other hand had paled several shades.

 

"Those are letters... no idea what they mean, I might speak a little Mandarin but those are Korean Hangul." he said, voice shaky. That information got Riley in action and she grabbed her laptop, quickly scanning all the scattered single letters and then modifying her translation software a bit so that it gave her all the possible combinations of the letters and what they meant.

 

"And those? Wait, is that you, Mac?" Bozer pulled the picture in question closer. "And on that one is Jack... what's *this*?"

 

"Seoul, South Korea, Boze..." Mac murmured, looking like he was about to get sick. "Someone... Murdoc has been following us a lot longer than I imagined already."

 

"Hey buddy, *breathe* okay?" Jack whispered, rubbing Mac's back soothingly. He had an idea why his partner reacted like this. Under any other circumstance, Mac would have taken that information and would have compartmentalized it for later inspection when the obvious threat was over. Now however, it was clear where the next target destination was and after what had happened that day? He clearly feared a lot more civilian casualties. A city like Seoul was brimming with life, a bomb anywhere would potentially kill more people than it had done already on Tower Bridge.

 

Mac made a conscious effort to calm his breathing under Jack's gentle touch. It wasn't easy but finally he got a grip on himself, focusing back on the problem at hand. There hopefully would be a lot of time to reflect on the events later on.

 

"Alright, these are surveillance photos of our trip around Seoul..." Mac said, hands working on bringing the pictures into a mostly correct time order.

 

"What a minute, when exactly were in South Korea?" Bozer asked incredulously. He knew of a lot of stuff his friend and Jack had done but this was the first he heard of that particular thing.

 

"Oh that was before you found out about the Phoenix... Mac and I had gone to North Korea actually, to apprehend a cyber terrorist who had been responsible for various incidents, melting nuclear reactors and other fun stuff like that. Picking him up had been the easy part, getting out of the country? Not so much. We ended up driving in a Mac improved truck towards the DMZ, the North Koreans hot on our tail and in front of us the South Korean military. Not as funny as it sounds really. We made it to the border and handed over the hacker but being US operatives working on foreign soil, especially ones who just came over from the North, it took a couple of days until Patty -at the time- and the Korean government had cleared the air and we were allowed to leave the country again. They couldn't exactly keep us locked up because we *did* help them after all, so we used the time to have a little sightseeing trip around the city. It's awesome, I tell you and I'm used to a lot of big scale stuff from around here." Jack explained, eyes following Mac's sorting closely.

 

"Ah, I remember that one... it wasn't all that long after I joined, right?" Riley said, remembering clearly how Thornton and her had watched that car race on the screens. "But that was long before Murdoc appeared on our radar... if he's been following you there already..." she let the sentence trail off, worry in her eyes.

 

"Exactly..." was all Jack said, nodding seriously.

 

"These are pictures of all the major sightseeing spots, every single one of them easily entered and just as easily left. Surveillance is a big thing in South Korea but with places like these, basically filled with people at any given time. It would be very easy to fly under the radar, especially someone experienced like Murdoc. Seoul Station alone would be a nightmare. Locating a bomb there..." Mac rubbed his forehead exhaustedly.

 

"Hey, don't think about that for now, okay? We have some time to figure this out. Where are we with the translation, Riley?" the eldest agent asked the hacker, looking at her expectantly.

 

"Still running but I do have some preliminary results of which exactly one makes sense and that would be 'Catch me if you can'." Riley said. "Which, knowing Murdoc, would be right up his wheelhouse."

 

"'Catch me if you can'? Well yeah that would make sense alright, isn't all that helpful however." Jack replied.

 

"Mh, he gave us song lyrics as hints for his London round, if we want to call it that. Any chance we have luck with something similar?" Bozer tried hopefully, nipping at his coffee cup.

 

The hacker started a quick research.

"Well there are a couple of songs by that title, no idea if any of those are helpful..." she opened the first video.

 

"Wow, these girls know how to move..." Bozer commented, looking over Riley's shoulder at the screen.

 

"Yeah well, it was the most obvious one, since it's in Korean and all... I highly doubt that these lyrics will help us here though. There's another one,  Japanese by the look of it..." she started the video and stopped it just as fast again.

 

"*What* was *that*? Did someone just kill a cat on screen?" Jack was once again shocked what the young generation called music when a highly skilled guitar riff sounded from the speaker. "Now that's a lot better..."

 

"That would be Eric Clapton, Jack. And by the sound of it, it might come closest to being helpful." the woman grinned. "Although this line about 'I won't be leaving no clues' does sound just wrong to me."

 

"Yeah well the double negative is a tricky thing although, he had been leaving us clues, so that would explain it. I don't know what to make of them though." Mac joined in on the conversation for the first time, pulling his focus away from the pictures. "I'm afraid that we're missing some key clues here which blew up with..." he broke off, gaze back on the table again.

 

"Yeah well, we'll figure it out anyway, bud! If anyone can do it, it'll be you. For now I'd say we update Matty on everything we've got so far, as little as it might be and then we better pack up and get on the jet to South Korea. Once we're there we might have a better idea what we're looking at and we can take action a lot faster." Jack took the lead of the situation for now. Immediately Riley sent off the call to Matty, while Bozer skipped out to buy a couple of snacks for the flight.

 

**Phoenix Jet**

**On-route to Seoul, South Korea**

By the time they finally had settled down in the jet and had reached cruising altitude, Riley and Bozer had dropped like the dead. It had been a long day, or more like two days straight already. Mac took his sweet time settling down and finally going to sleep. Jack watched him from half closed eyes, saw how the younger one fought the sleep. He knew from personal experience and working with Mac for so long that the new information and everything else rattled through his head and that the blond felt guilty, despite everything everyone told him. Jack got that, he felt the same but at some point of his career he accepted that even if you did your best, there were days you just couldn't save everyone. He accepted it, he didn't like it, but he made his peace with it. Something, he knew very well, that Mac never did. Probably never would, truth be told. That's why he looked out for the younger one even more after such events.

 

He dozed for a little while, power napping at this point being second nature to Jack Dalton when he heard the tell tale first signs of a nightmare. Immediately his eyes were open and he leaned forward, gently taking the hands, which Mac had fisted painfully tight into the thin blanket, in his own, letting his warmth seep into them until they slowly relaxed again. That didn't stop the images in Mac's brain, Jack knew that and softly started whispering reassurance at the younger man, low and steady, telling him that he wasn't alone and it wasn't his fault and that they would catch Murdoc.

 

Jack lost track of time, it could be five minutes or an hour, he didn't know but finally Mac started to settle down again, breath evening out and slipping into a deeper and hopefully dreamless sleep.

 

Relaxing himself again as well, Jack leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes once again. Not aware of the gentle smile on Riley's lips who had woken up at some point and listened to his soothing voice for a while before she cuddled her pillow again and fell back asleep.

 

**Seoul, South Korea**

**Hotel Suite**

"Oh man, this jet lag is going to kick my ass..." Bozer grumbled approximately an hour after they arrived in their hotel suite in the city center.

 

A little while before they landed, Matty had informed them about the latest news and that she had booked the suite for them as a temporary HQ.

 

"Well, I can't disagree with you on that, Bozer. But I need something to eat now, anyone else up for some room service?" Jack asked, studying the menu, grateful that Matty chose a big hotel that provided information and menus in English as well. He once had been in for a nasty surprise in a restaurant in China and didn't want a repeat of that.

 

He waited for Bozer and Riley's input and completely ignored Mac's 'not hungry' in favour of ordering him something Jack remembered that Mac had liked a lot the last time they were in the country.

 

When the hotel service people brought in the food, Jack only barely suppressed a few curse words when the younger one of them -a kid who, Jack estimated, was barely older than 16 held out a rather familiar looking envelope with the broken words of 'a letter for Mr MacGyver'. If that wasn't a way to ruin his appetite, Jack didn't know what was.

 

Mac waited until the hotel employees had left the suite before he opened the envelope and shook out one single paper.

 

_Dear MacGyver! Welcome to Seoul City, capital of South Korea. Or should I say, welcome back! Since you arrived here -right on schedule might I add- I trust you figured out the little hints I've left you in her Majesty's lovely country. Now, since you didn't manage to gather all the information back in London due to a little boom (oops!) I thought I give you a little help. Remember, I didn't have to do this. After you played against the rules and brought along Mr Robinson in London, you actually would deserve to play only with part of the information but that would be too easy for me. And I wanted a challenge after all. I'm gracious like that. So I'll tell you two things: First, I'm not alone this time. Second, look out for the boom at two. Have a good night and do enjoy some of the good food dear Jack ordered for you, we wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of anyone, now would we? XOXO, your favourite Gossip Girl (Kidding!)_

The first thing Jack did upon hearing the contents of the letter, was closing all the blinds in the room. They were pretty high up, logically Murdoc shouldn't be able to see inside the room but it made him feel better to block the view physically as well. Riley immediately whipped out her rig and checked the security footage and checked the internal phone connection as well, hoping to find out how Murdoc got all the information he had, especially since they just checked in.

 

"That is seriously creepy as fuck. It's as if he knew already where we would stay and what we would order for dinner, how does he *do* that?" Bozer asked, shaken and wide-eyed.

 

"I have no idea, Bozer but we will find out as soon as we catch this bastard. Now would you please call this in to Matty, I'll go have a quick chat with this service boy." Mac said and without a word Jack followed him.

 

"What are you doing, Jack?" the blond sighed, hand on the door handle.

"Hey, there's a seriously crazy guy after you and according to him he's not working alone this time, there is no way in hell I'll let you wander around alone!" the older agent replied, arms crossed in front of him and his eyes unyielding.

"Let me guess, the fact that he didn't shoot me in London already although 6 inches to the right he would have hit me point blank and the fact that he wants a challenge and wants me to turn up tomorrow won't change your mind?"

"Not in the slightest." Jack nodded.

"Yeah alright, come on then..." Mac gave up, letting his friend tag along.

 

Ten minutes later the two of them returned and it became clear that it had been useless, both Jack tagging along and talking to the guy in the first place.

 

"Alright, Matty is in talks with the local government here but after your last little stunt here, they aren't all that inklined to cooperate. She was about to raise the issue of London to convince them otherwise. Back up should be availabe by tomorrow I'd guess." Bozer informed them about his call with their boss.

 

"Good, for once good news!" Jack grumbled.

 

"Yeah, true, won't help us anything if we have no idea where to look for the bomb though." Riley injected thoughtfully.

 

"Not entirely Riley, I might have an idea about that. The time is a pretty specific one and I remember clearly where we went at two the last time we visited!"

 

"Okay, that's good but who's Murdoc's mysterious friend?" Bozer asked.

 

"That's the question!" Mac said, already looking through the photos again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Murdoc gave Mac and the team some disconcerting news and clues, they now have to work hard to prevent a repeat of London.  
> And who is this mysterious friend of Murdoc exactly?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, close to the end now, only one more chapter after this one to go.  
> Fun fact, the events discribed or rahter talked about in this chapter, I never got around to see them myself when I was in the city last year, sadly... I've never actually seen the corresponding one in London either though, Jack's opinion is all on him. *whistles innocently*  
> Anyway, please enjoy!

** 5 **

**Seoul, South Korea**

**Temporary HQ**

"Okay, Mac, you said you have an idea what we're looking for, care to enlighten us as well? Because I sure as hell don't remember where I was at two in the afternoon back then." Jack asked after a little while of silence in which Mac had closely studied the surveillance pictures Murdoc had left them with as bread crumbs.

 

The older agent had taken the bowl of rice from the cart and had started eating while watching Mac. One thing Murdoc had gotten right, he wouldn't waste perfectly good food. He needed his strength after all.

 

"Oh I'm sure you remember very clearly, Jack, you've been in awe of the colourfully clad people with their old-school weapons after all." Mac said, sending his friend a small smirk.

 

"Oooh, you mean that? This guard change thingy at the palace? The one that's way cooler than the one in Britain?" Jack exclaimed, taking care not to sputter any food over the pictures, face brightening at the memory.

 

Riley and Bozer just watched the two of them thoroughly confused, following the conversation very much like a ping pong game while they too had grabbed some food.

 

"That's the one, and as much as I hate to admit it, it would be the perfect place too. Planting a bomb there, very likely a *big* bomb, wouldn't just level one if not *the* most culturally significant landmark of South Korea but would kill a lot of people should it explode. This ceremony is routinely watched by many, locals and tourists alike especially at the afternoon ceremony at 2pm, plus all the personnel involved in the ceremony. Depending on how big the bomb is, it's destruction power and the corresponding pressure and fire wave could also do significant damage to the surrounding structures. There's a market close by, pretty open and always full of people as well, the heat and pressure wave alone could have devastating consequences for them." Mac explained pulling out the corresponding pictures from the pile, showing them to Riley and Bozer. Judging by the grim expression on Jack's face, Mac assumed that the older man's memory had resurfaced enough to remember the lay of the land and how dangerous an explosion there would be.

 

"So we go there tomorrow, search for the bomb and you disarm it. When we already know when it's set to explode that shouldn't be all that difficult, right?" Bozer wondered out loud.

 

"Right and wrong I'm afraid. We're assuming a big bomb and while it's true that we presumably know when it's going to detonate I hardly think that it'll be there a whole lot before that. Sure it's a risk Murdoc takes but the risk that someone else will stumble over the explosives early is probably higher in his eyes. So somehow he'll make it that the bomb will be planted there with only a bit of time to spare." Mac said. "That's assuming that Murdoc is involved in this anyway, he could send his associate to bring in the bomb then we don't have any idea who to look for." Mac explained, trying to put himself in Murdoc's shoes to solve this even if it send ice cold shivers down his spine to do it. It re-awakened memories of one specific mission, Mac much rather wanted to forget all about.

 

"Uhm... I hate being the one to bring it up but we're just talking about the 'big boom' at the palace... Until now there always were three bombs however. That leaves two still unaccounted for..." Riley asked hesitantly.

 

"She's not wrong, bud..." Jack said, hating the way this was shaping up to be yet another close call desaster.

 

"Don't you think I know that already? That's why we'll have to look at all the places we've been last time as well. Sure it could be that Murdoc sent us on this trail by design but with the way he thinks... I not believe there are more bombs. This is his end game. DC was a intro, London was a test round but *this* is his endgame. Whatever he wants, he'll try to achieve it here not send me on another wild goose chase around the city that I cannot possibly win." the blond sighed, idly picking at his rice that Bozer had pushed in his hands.

 

"Alright, so what's the play, Mac? We'll re-trace out steps tomorrow morning and hope to find all the other sightseeing points bomb-less and then make our way to the palace? I don't like this plan. Too many variables to consider." Jack wanted to know.

 

"I'd like to go to the more important and bigger ones myself, yes. Namsan Tower and the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park. The first is, next to the palace, probably *the* tourist center even early in the morning already and even a very small bomb could destroy this tower completely. And the other is quite big and right in the middle of various malls, one explosion there would easily kill hundreds if not more. After I checked the buildings, I'd like to have guards there to make sure nothing gets planted after we leave and the few smaller spots I hoped the local authorities could check and guard. All that provided that Matty has convinced them to help." Mac said, pulling even more pictures from the pile.

 

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" Riley asked determinedly. She knew she wouldn't be of help with the bombs or anything else but she was pretty sure Mac had something in mind for her and Bozer.

 

"Glad you asked. I'd like for you and Bozer to run command. Surveillance and coordination with the locals, again provided we get help at all. It's a big city and even if we have an idea where to look, you'll have a lot of security footage to keep an eye on."

 

The hacker nodded at Mac's words.

"I can do that, good thing this suite is pretty high class with TVs in every bedroom..." she grinned. "For once it's not you who will disassemble the interior design." Already planning how she will set the screens up to give her a good overview in her head.

 

"Good, that sounds like we have at least some kind of a plan. How about we call back Matty and give her an update and see if we can count on help or not. And after that, I think we all should get some rest. I know sleeping isn't that much of a priority right now but at least for the next couple of hours we can't really do anything more than wait. Tomorrow we have to bring our A-game! That's hardly likely if we get thrown by jet-lag from changing so many time zones in such a short time." Jack said, always the voice of reason in situations like these.

 

During their time in the Sandbox and also with the DXS and Phoenix, Mac and Jack had been on enough long and physically straining missions, for the younger to know that Jack was right even if he didn't like it, too caught up in everything that was happenening.

 

The conversation with Matty brought them at least some relief because she had convinced the local government to give her team full back up that would be ready to go when Mac needed them.

 

After what happened with Charlie, it sure was a risk to involve more people but they all agreed that the risk of a lot more innocent civilian casualties was a lot higher if they didn't. So it was agreed that Matty would inform her liaison that Riley would contact them in the morning for a quick briefing on the plan.

 

After that they settled in for some rest just like Jack had wanted. Neither of them felt like going to the bedrooms on their own however. That's why soon they had occupied every couch and armchair in the main room. It might not be the most comfortable and most relaxing but they were together and that was more important for the moment.

 

**

 

The night ended quite early for all of them, not that rest had been easy to come by in the first place. After another call for room service for some breakfast, Mac helped Riley with taking the TVs from the bedrooms and rigging them up around the big one in the main room. It took a little while but then she had connected them all with her laptop *and* had hacked into local traffic and security cameras, their feeds playing in real time now on their makeshift screen wall.

 

Jack and Bozer just looked impressed.

"God, it would be awesome to watch a game on this thing now..." the older mumbled under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn't necessarily because he really wanted to watch a game (he did if it didn't mean a whole lot of pain and chaos) but more to pull them all out of this tunnel for a moment that could lead to them missing things if they focused too much on one thing. The comment did just that, Jack knew when he heard Riley and Mac's soft chuckles.

 

"Yeah, or _Die Hard_ , right Jack?" Mac teased before he turned his focus back on his plan notes that Riley would explain to the soldiers later.

 

"Well, yeah, that would be awsome too!" Jack agreed and then got on his feet to once again check his weapons and then suit up as best as he could.

 

They had brought the spare bullet proof vests from the jet and a couple of other handy things you would never find in a regular jet, not even a military one.

 

**

 

"Alright, the Tower is clear and put under tight surveillance, nobody gets in or out unnoticed, much less would be able to plant a bomb. How's it going with the other sites, Riley?" Mac asked, as he and Jack made their way down the narrow and winding road to the foot of Namsan mountain and back to the city center to their next destination.

 

"It looks good. Two have already been searched and put under surveillance without incident. They are currently at site three but this market thing is like a frigging bee hive, that will take some time to clear." the hacker replied.

 

"And how does it look on the cameras around the palace? Anything suspicious going on there already?" Jack asked, ready to change their destination at her call.

"Nope, people milling around, all very quiet and touristy, nothing shady I could detect from here." it was Bozer's voice that called from the background. Apparently he had taken over the video screen, while Riley coordinated the teams.

 

"Good, that's good, let us know if anything comes up, anything at all, you got that?" Jack said, exchanging a quick glance with Mac.

"You might think it's insignificant but it could be the key to solving this early." the blond added, getting quick, positive answers from his two other friends.

 

They met up at Dongdaemun Park with one unit of the local intelligence and together they cleared the building and the surrounding area systematically and thoroughly. Satisfied that there was no bomb there and the gurads would make sure that it stayed that way as well, Mac and Jack made their way to the palace.

 

They still had a little over an hour until the ceremony started and Mac used the time to walk along the inner palace walls, get a lay of the land again and see where he was in relation to the main palace building, which he assumed would be the most logical place for the bomb.

 

Jack had taken position at the main entrance and tried to have an eye on who came and left. *Tried* being the key word since there were so many people already gathering to find a good place to watch the ceremony.

 

They didn't have immediate back up, Mac didn't want to take the risk of pissing Murdoc off even more by bringing them inside the palace. There were a handful of agents placed in the surrounding buildings, who were keeping an eye on the palace place with their sniper rifles.

 

"Mac? Are you sure this is going down here? I haven't seen anything suspicious being brought in here, unless the bomb was already here after all, I doubt there is anything happening at this place, we must have missed something..." Jack asked softly over the comms, on high alert even more now that he hadn't seen anything noticeable.

 

The blond didn't want to admit it just yet but he had started to doubt himself and his deduction when he didn't find anything and the time passed more and more.

"I would have no idea where we were supposed to be otherwise. As far as I remember there is nothing specific at 2pm anywhere else. This bomb has to be here. If I wanted to be optimistic I'd say we scared him off but that's not how Murdoc operates and if he's working with Murdoc, I doubt this mystery partner is any different." Mac replied. "Just give me another minute, I'll go check behind the palace again..." he added.

 

Mac was working on a gut feeling now. He had watched the helpers with the ceremony carry boxes outside. Stuff they needed for the guard change. Carefully he made sure that nobody was paying attention to him as Mac started rifling through the boxes. Stopping dead at an unopened one.

 

Slowly, painfully slowly he cut the tape on the top.

"Jack I might have found something. Backside of the main palace building." he informed his partner while carefully pulling off the top of the box and peeling away the paper inside. "Yeah, that's definitely a bomb..."

 

Even if Mac hadn't sounded entirely sure when he first informed Jack about his findings, the older agent had immediately made his way around the crowd and to his side.

One look at the box in front of the blond and a curse slipped past Jack's lips.

 

"That looks bad..." he murmured, his eyes especially on the timer on the top that read 10 minutes and counting.

 

"It doesn't just look bad, it *is* bad, Jack. This is yet another of the Ghost designs, one of the most sophisticated and complicated ones yet. And it might not look big but this is some new kind of explosive, a kind that shouldn't even be out yet. Even a small amount has about ten times the destructive power of C4, this size? It's worse than I even dared to imagine." Mac looked at his partner and Jack saw a flicker of fear in the blue eyes.

 

"You can do this, Mac! If there is anyone who can, then it's you. You know his style better than anyone, I trust you!" Jack said and a soft 'click' sound from the box drew their attention to the bomb.

 

Before the surprised eyes of Mac and Jack, a latch at the top of the bomb had opened, a small screen unfolding from underneath it.

 

"What a heartfelt vote of confidence, Mr Dalton!" a voice came from a speaker, presumably hidden underneath the screen on which they were only able to see a silhouette in the shadows. It definitely was male, and older than either Jack or Mac and there was a hint of amusement.

"I have to say, you're a hard to meet man, MacGyver. I've been following your work for quite some time, I'm a bit of a fan. Mr. Pena, bless his soul, taught you well indeed!" the voice chuckled.

 

"Who are you and why are you doing this?" Jack asked, a little unsettled on the inside.

 

"Oh I'm sure your young friend knows very well who I am, do you not, Angus?" the voice teased.

Mac nodded, his voice tense with all the tightly held in emotions when he replied.

 

"The Ghost!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out who they are up against exactly, yet another race against time starts for Mac.  
> And seriously, what's Murdoc's angle in all this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is near... or rather here.   
> This is the final chapter of 'Stone Cold Crazy' and I'll hope you'll enjoy it!

** 6 **

**Seoul, South Korea**

**Gyeongbokgung Palace**

For just a second it felt like time stood still and the world tilted an inch off its axis for Jack when he heard the name his partner had uttered, barely audible and yet as clear as if he had shouted.

 

The Ghost himself, the bastard who had caused Mac so much pain already. The man they've been hunting all over the place for years now. This was getting worse and worse.

 

"That's right. I have to admit, I always liked the name you've given me, it sounded so fitting for my work." the man chuckled again. "As for your other question Mr Dalton, why I'm doing this... well the answer is simple really. A challenge. You see, your young friend is the only person who managed to escape my bombs again and again and it's getting a little annoying really. I knew if I'd raise the stakes high enough, you would do anything to 'save the innocent'." the last part was said with audible quote signs.

 

Mac allowed himself only a second to panic at this revelation before he shook himself and focused back on the bomb. The timer had already passed the 7 minute mark and counted down relentlessly. He had to disarm this thing! Just one thing, he wanted... needed to know first before he could direct his full attention on the mechanism.

 

"I get that but why work together with Murdoc? What's in it for either of you?" he asked while carefully tracing the wire lines.

 

"Ah well... I admit I was kind of surprised when Murdoc contacted me a while ago. It seemed we had a shared interest in you. He proposed this elaborate plan to get to you. If you ask me, all these theatrics were a bit much but it served a purpose after all and you followed every bread crumb like clockwork. For someone who rarely works according to plans and improvises regularly, you sure are predictable MacGyver." the Ghost said, an almost disappointed tone to his voice.

 

"So Murdoc got to play his mindgames with me and you get to kill me, that's the grand idea?" Mac asked, counting the wires once again. The time ticking on.

 

"Oh yes and no, you see, I only care for your early demise but he enjoys playing with you. We worked on this together but killing you is a bit of a contest. You see, Murdoc doesn't have a lot of faith in my ability, really. For him, my bombs were a means to an end, and not the work of art that they really are. If I fail to kill you, he's just waiting for his turn. And if you fail to disarm the bomb and I do kill you, well at least he got to play with you and your little band of misfits he knows you care about so much. It's a win-win for both of us really, it's just a question of who has the honour of ending you."

 

After hearing these words, Mac stopped in his tracks for a second. Everything fell into place now. And he had been wondering why Murdoc had changed up his usual MO and had adressed him directly instead of using his loved ones. He didn't, not really, he just changed up his time table.

 

"Jack! Go back to the hotel!" he ordered with a tight voice.

 

"What? Mac, no! I'll stay here with you, having your back like I always do! You go kaboom, I go kaboom, remember?" Jack retorted, clearly not following Mac's sudden outbreak.

 

 "Jack, listen to me, you have to go back now! It's not what you think, it's Murdoc! If I disarm this bomb, it's his turn to kill me! He will never just shoot me, you know that. He will make sure to play with me, manipulate me. He did it before, remember?" Mac said, imploringly. "Go! I can do this on my own!"

 

Jack looked disbelievingly at Mac, but then everything made sense for him as well.

"He's going for Riley and Bozer!" he said, getting a nod from Mac.

 

"Go!"

 

"You sure?" Jack asked, his uncertain look on the timer that barely read three more minutes.

 

"As sure as I'll ever be! Go, keep them safe and get that asshole!" Mac ordered once more, his eyes already back on the bomb mechanism.

 

"Oh my, was it something I said?" the Ghost commented, voice amused again. "He won't like that very much... oh well... I always worked better on my own anyway."

 

Mac ignored the rambling man, they would take care of him later. His attention fully on the device again, he wasn't entirely sure what to do. There was an obvious solution but that could just as well be a trap. It was too easy. Why would the Ghost make it that easy?

 

"Doubting yourself there, MacGyver? Well, I would too if the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people depended on my decision. It's not an easy thing, isn't it? That's why I prefer building bombs... much less doubt... and regret..."

 

"You're building bombs because you're a homicidal asshole who has no feelings and doesn't care for the lives he destroys directly or indirectly." Mac snapped back.

 

The clock just passed the last minute and he had to make a decision now.

For a second he closed his eyes and evened his breath before he carefully took the wire and cut it.

 

For a split second the timer went on and Mac's heart stuttered in his chest before it stopped entirely and he sighed in relief.

 

"Shame, I was so sure you would fall for my trap. Very well then, MacGyver. I'm sure we'll meet again!" the Ghost said and then the screen started to flicker and went black next.

 

**Seoul, South Korea**

**Temporary HQ**

Riley and Bozer were busy keeping an eye on everything that happened around. The unit at the street market had caused a bit of a commotion when they stopped some shady looking delievery guy. That issue had taken a bit of time to resolve and Bozer was flipping through the various traffic camera feeds.

 

An almost inaudible click came from their comm system and the two young agents looked at each other.

"Mac? Jack? Do you copy?" Riley called to her team members, only getting resounding silence back.

 

The alarm they had been feeling had only risen even more when they lost contact to Mac and Jack. The hacker had frantically tried to re-establish their comm connection without success. She had wanted to call them on their phones but Bozer stopped her just in time. He didn't know much but he knew if Murdoc was involved with this, her calling either Mac or Jack's phones potentially could trigger the bomb remotely.

 

Reluctantly she had agreed with him and had doubled her efforts to clear all the smaller potential targets, not that she could do much, she wasn't doing any clearing herself after all.

 

It was a little before 2pm when Riley's phone went off.

"Jack? What's going on? We lost contact a little while ago." she asked immediately when she heard the older man breathe hard as if he were running.

 

"Mac found the bomb. It's the Ghost! He's the associate Murdoc mentioned. They have some twisted competition about who gets to kill Mac. If the Ghost fails, it's Murdocs turn and we're pretty sure, he's coming for you guys right about now to get to Mac. Stay away from the windows, keep the door looked and do not open it under any circumstances, unless it's me, understood? I'm on my way to you now!" Jack explained and Riley and Bozer made eyecontact over her phone.

 

"Okay, got it."

 

**

 

After Mac had sent him off, Jack had tried to contact Riley and Bozer over the comms, just then realising the lack of chatter on the line before. Now he knew the reason. He opted to run along the street up to their temporary hide out. The reason for that had been easy, their car had gotten blocked off pretty well and the street was quite busy too, there was a good chance he would take even more time if he tried to drive there. So running it was.

 

Once again Jack was glad that Mac had gotten him to extend his focus more on cardio too than just weights in his training or he would be thoroughly screwed by now. He wasn't exactly unfit in long distance pursuits before but he always preferred sprints. But now it paid off and he made good time along the busy street.

 

He was also very glad when Riley picked up her phone immediately, that meant Murdoc hadn't gotten to Bozer and her just yet at least.

Warning the hacker properly, he pushed himself some more, relief blossoming with every intake of breathe when the hotel came into sight.

 

He took the elevator up to two floors under their suite. The fancy hotel elevator pinged rather loudly when the door opened and he didn't want to risk warning Murdoc with it. So he quickly rushed up the last two flights of stairs before he significantly slowed down his steps, his gun drawn, cautiously approaching their suite.

 

The door was open. That was the first thing he noticed and his heart rate spiked instantly. Straining his ears however told him that Murdoc and his friends were still inside.

 

"... ah ah ah... I wouldn't do that, Riley dear, that would be very unwise if I say so myself..." Murdoc's annoying sing-song voice travelled outside. For a second, Jack wondered what Riley had been trying to do, vowing once again that as soon as they were home after this ordeal and had slept through the next couple of days to return back to their normal time zone setting, he would take Riley down to the shooting range and train her. If he wanted to, Bozer as well. He needed to know that they at least were able to handle a gun properly should another situation like this arise. As it were, they hadn't even left one with them since neither of them was trained to shoot. That might have been a gross mistake if the Ghost hadn't accidentally blabbed to Mac about Murdoc's plans.

 

Slowly, painfully slowly Jack inched forward into the room until he was able to see all three, Riley and Bozer with their hands held high and Murdoc, his back to Jack, in front of them, a gun in hand.

 

Jack didn't hesitate for a second, he took aim and shot Murdoc's knee from behind. The assassin crumpled to the floor in pain with a surprised shout. He turned to look at Jack.

 

"Sleep tight, asshole!" Jack smirked when, making full use of Murdoc's distraction, Riley picked up her wireless keyboard and knocked the man out cold.

 

"Good job, Riles!" Jack grinned as he put his gun back in the holster.

They shared a quick smile but then all three pairs of eyes turned as one towards the radio clock on the wall.

 

It was 2:05pm. It took all three of them a moment for that information to sink in and to realize that there most definitely hadn't been an explosion of any kind.

 

Jack barked a relieved laugh.

"He did it again!"

 

Riley and Bozer joined into the laughter, happy that another crisis had been averted.

 

Bozer and Jack made short work of tying up Murdoc very tightly and very thoroughly using their belts and the drawstrings of their curtains before Jack put a field dressing on Murdoc gunshot wound.

 

Riley in the meantime dialled Mac's phone.

It sounded like the blond was running as well when he accepted the call.

"Hey Mac, congrats on not getting blown up!" she greeted.

 

"Riley! Is Jack with you? Did Murdoc..." he started but the hacker interrupted him immediately.

 

"Jack's here and Murdoc is currently unconscious and tied up very tightly." she could hear him slow down some and relax at the news.

 

"Perfect, I'm with you in a minute, I had to make sure that the bomb gets taken care of properly first. See you soon!" Mac explained the delay in his arrival, not that anyone would have expected him to arrive at the hotel already.

 

They waited until Mac had entered the room as well before Riley set up a call with Matty.

 

"About time, you guys! I almost started thinking you didn't make it after all." she greeted them.

 

"Yeah well, Matty, we came closer than I would have liked to be honest!" Mac said and then prodeeded to inform her about what had happened.

 

"So the Ghost is in the wind again..." she said.

"Yup, but we have Murdoc tied up and ready to be locked away!" Jack joined and Riley turned her laptop a little for Matty to see the assassin who slowly started to come to again.

 

"Good job you guys! That's a good start! There will be another time for the Ghost! Alright... I'll contact my liaison again and tie up any loose ends there. Riley, make sure the hotel gets our address for them to send the bill for any necessary repairs to, yeah? I'll arrange a security detail to pick you up and escort you to the jet. Come on home, guys!"

 

**Phoenix Jet**

**On-route to Los Angeles**

"You know..."

 

"Shut it, Murdoc!" Mac said.

 

"But..."

 

"Didn't he tell you to shut up?" Jack added, only one eye opening from his napping position.

 

"Well yes, but I only tried to make small talk!" Murdoc replied sulkily.

 

"No one wants to talk to you, so shut up or I'll make you!" Riley snapped after the constant talking had woken her up again.

 

"Now, now Riley, no reason to get all aggressive..." the assassin grumbled from the back of the jet where they had put him securely tied up and shackled to the seat as well.

 

"That's it..." grumbled Bozer and got up from his seat, grabbing Mac's personal go-bag on his way to their prisoner.

 

"Boze? What are you doing?" Mac asked but he wasn't really concerned in the slightest.

 

The three couldn't see what Bozer was doing, they just heard the commentary by Murdoc.

 

"Bozer, do you take pity on me and entertain me some? What? Oh, no... no need to take such extreme measures... I'm shutting up, promi..mgf..."

 

"Oh I'm sure you will, Murdoc. No doubt there..." Bozer said, putting away whatever he had taken from Mac's bag and returned to his seat.

 

Mac, Jack and Riley started laughing wholeheartedly at Murdoc, a sulky expression on his face, glaring daggers at them and a pretty strip of heavy duty duct tape over his mouth,

 

"Good thinking, Bozer! Really good thinking!" Jack chuckled before he settled back down in his seat.

 

Riley took a quick picture and sent it to Matty, sure their boss would get a kick out of that one before she too settled back down for some much needed shut eye. Shortly followed by Bozer and Mac as well.

 

**

 

All wasn't well of course. Mac still had some issues to work through after London and meeting with the Ghost. And the others too had to keep their paranoia at times in check. Riley made sure their security was up to date more than ever and they always kept an extra eye out for someone following them.

But those were small things, they could overcome with time. Important for now was that Murdoc was under lock and key and wouldn't see daylight again if Matty had anything to say about it! And when Matty wanted something, she got it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know notes at the beginning and the end, a bit overkill right?  
> I don't usually do this but since it's the last chapter just a few quick words at the end.  
> Firstly, the ending in particular? It's always bothered me that they didn't make this a thing in the actual show, I mean talking, riling people up, teasing, threatening and everything in between is kind of Murdoc's favourite activity, why do they let him do this all the time?
> 
> Alright, moving on, secondly and more importantly, thanks to everyone who made this journey with me, left kudos or comments, I'm grateful for every single one of them. I hope you had fun and please, I'm still looking forward to new opinions and comments XD See ya guys!


End file.
